Prairie City/Burnt River’s Isabella Williams sets the ball during the Lady Panthers’ matchup with Jordan Valley in the High Desert League District Tournament in Crane on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.

The Prairie City/Burnt River volleyball team is headed to the state tournament with hopes for a strong showing.

The team earned a spot in the state tournament via a third place finish in the High Desert League district tournament on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Crane High School. The Lady Panthers would fall to Adrian 3-1 in their opening match before rebounding to sweep Jordan Valley 3-0 to claim third place and a state playoff berth.

The Lady Panthers dropped the first two games to Adrian with scores of 25-20 and 25-15 before regrouping for a 26-16 win in game three. The fourth and decisive game needed extra volleyball to decide.

In the end, the Lady Antelopes would hold and escape with a 28-26 game four win to take the match 3-1. Lady Panther heard coach Dennis Lynch said little things ultimately decided the match between the two teams.

“They were just a little more consistent than we were,” he said. “We haven’t quite gotten over the top with Adrian yet.”

The second game of the tournament was a showdown with Jordan Valley, with the winner securing a third place finish and a berth in the state tournament. This match was a battle, with every game decided by four points or fewer.

The Lady Panthers would ultimately put the Adrian match behind them and put together a gritty 3-0 match win to advance to the state tournament. Game scores for the match were 25-23, 29-27 and 25-21.

“I think Jordan Valley is very much improved since the last time (we played them),” Lynch said. “They have some very good athletes, and they were playing much better than they did when we played them the first time.”

Lynch said one of the things his team needs to work on is maintaining leads and not giving opponents the opportunity to rally once they’ve fallen behind.

“When we get ahead, we seem to like to watch them catch up,” he said. “We have a tendency to do that.”

The Lady Panthers now shift focus to Days Creek, whom they’ll host in the opening round of the state tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 25. Lynch said he’s done some scouting of Days Creek and they remind him of a familiar league foe.

“They look to be very similar in style to Adrian,” he said. “They’ve got a good middle hitter, they’ve got a good outside hitter, they don’t give you anything, they’re a good passing team and they don’t quit — they just keep coming after you.

“I think we’re going to have to earn this victory. … It’s going to take a complete game to beat Days Creek,” he said. “We know we can win this game. Whether we do or not has to be taken care of out on the floor.”